The Amathonga cloth (also known as ihiya) holds great spiritual significance for those who believe in, and have a spiritual inclination to, their ancestors.
The cloth is associated with traditional healers, their initiates and those who come to consult them.
However, fashion designers have now debuted creations that have made use of the cloth on the runway.
“Each print has its own spiritual meaning to each person, their ancestors and their ancestral journey,” says sangoma Mpho wa Badimo.
“There are different kinds of prints and each has either an animal or some form of natural element like the sun. We use it as an instrument or catalyst on the ancestral journey.”
Fashion designer Sandile Mlambo of Khumkhani Bespoke believes that fashion has introduced an interpretation to modernise the way in which the cloth is worn.
“As a fashion designer, I believe that I am not misusing the cloth but rather introducing a modern take on how it can be used. Repurposing it into everyday clothing makes it easier and fashionable for people to have it with them at all times,” says Mlambo.
From an ancestral perspective, Mpho wa Badimo believes the magic lies in how one uses the cloth as it does not belong exclusively to sangomas.
“It is also for people whom ancestors identify with. People often find that there’s an ancestor in their life that requires a certain kind of print. You may not necessarily have a calling but the cloth might be a preference from a certain ancestor for illumination and identification purposes,” she says.
“What’s important is what you are using it for and what it symbolises for you. This is why there are different colours that signify different phases in one’s ancestral journey.”
For his Amathonga creations, Mlambo draws his inspiration from the continent and its cultures and rituals. “I’m an all-round spiritual African being and I believe that ubungoma is that engine that connects us with the other side spiritually.”
However, Mlambo’s designs have not received the approval he had hoped for. At his first show at the 2016 Durban Fashion Festival, his Khumkhani Bespoke collection caught the attention of the media and was met with harsh criticism.
“The response was hectic. Not from the public but from the media. It was a wow factor – people would ask me 'where do you find the guts to go this route and touch that which is untouchable'.”
Mlambo’s clientele are sangomas, their initiates and the people who consult traditional healers.
“And they (sangomas) received it really well because when I look around people actually dress up in their designs.”
Mlambo is not concerned about redefining the purpose of the spiritual symbols that exist in the cloth, he is only concerned with bringing them to the forefront.
“The purpose of the cloth remains untainted,” he says. “There is a risk that if we make this into casual clothing people will wear it every day. There is also that element of the small street people that might reproduce and resell themselves.
“It is not appropriation as this fabric is our own, it belongs to us, we are African and it does not only belong to amasangoma but it extends to their patients as well,” say Mlambo.
For Mpho wa Badimo, respect for the amathonga cloth remains important.
“I always say that it needs to be respected. Sangoma print is now treated like any other fabric. So much of what is sacred ancestrally has been diluted. But what remains important is your respect for the fabric and what you do with it.
"You and I may come with the same sangoma fabric but because I have communicated with my ancestors about mine and I wear it only when I perform certain rituals, that’s what makes the difference,” she says.
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